Horse Leasing for Dummies

As a gift for graduating from University, my parents decided to lease me a horse. They would pay $150 for one month, and I would have access to a horse for three days of the week. After that, I could continue the lease arrangement if I wanted to make the payment.

I was ecstatic. I'd ridden as a child, and had owned, trained, and bred my own animals into my early 20s. Everyone in my family knew I'd missed the horses almost from the moment the ink dried on the sales receipt. As a middle-aged single mother, though, owning was currently beyond my means. Leasing seemed a wonderful and viable alternative. I couldn`t think of a better graduation present.

Mom sent me an internet ad from a farm three blocks from my home. The two horses pictured in the advertisement were large, muscular quarter horses, both were over fifteen hands. As a 5'10" woman whose weight category has risen with her age, this seemed perfect. Mom called up "Sally," the farm owner, and we arranged to meet.

The farm was located at the end of a dead-end street, and was sheltered from view on one side by the retirement home with whom it shared a driveway and on the other side by the playing fields of the local high-school which bordered the property. To the left, Sally's house sat nestled among willow trees. A pick-up was parked in the U-shaped drive leading to the house. Behind the house was a small tack room and hay shed; to the right of the house was an empty field with an arrangement of barrels and poles in the centre, a riding ring, and several occupied paddocks. The entire farm was immaculately maintained.

As I waited for the owner, my gaze traveled across the occupants of the paddocks. I quickly picked out the animals in the advertisement. They looked even better in reality than they had online, and I felt my excitement grow. I was standing outside the paddock of the larger of the two lease horses and watching the sun shine on the gelding's glossy bay coat when Sally found me.

She wore jeans and a cowboy hat and had that natural, no makeup glow of the habitually out-of-doors woman. She was friendly but businesslike as she took me on a tour of the facility and told me the stories of each of her animals.

She described the activities of the farm. Not only did she ride for pleasure and train her own animals for the show ring, she taught riding lessons on a regular basis, offered trails rides in the back 20 acres, and made an income training other people's problem horses. If I were going to lease one of her animals, I needed to make certain my riding hours didn't conflict with her evening riding lessons. Beyond that, she would show me the tack room, and I would be free to come and go.

The farm was operating at close to maximum capacity. One of the reasons Sally wanted to lease her animals was because she simply didn't have enough time to give them regular exercise on her own. She encouraged me to come as often as possible, and to ride as long and as regularly as I could.

So far, everything sounded great to me. The first hint that there might be complications to this situation was when Sally took me to the paddock of the animal she wanted me to lease. As we walked, she told me she had two possible horses for me. I could lease one exclusively, or split my time on both. I was surprised when she walked past the paddock containing the big bay and instead stopped in front of a finely-boned palomino mare.

The horse's name, Sally told me, was Kokanee. She was a fifteen-hands-high, 10-year-old quarter horse mare with a very pretty head. When I expressed some doubts, Sally assured me the mare was strong enough to take my height and weight. I slipped inside the pen and rubbed Kokanee between the ears and down the length of her neck. I grinned like a 10-year-old when the mare butted her nose against my shoulder.

From inside Kokanee's pen, Sally pointed out the other horse she had for me. Sully was a 24-year-old bay Arabian gelding, and even from the distance I could see he was slightly underweight.

“You’ll love riding him,” Sally enthused. “He’s so easy. Just let him do his thing.”

She wasn’t quite as certain of Kokanee. Apparently the mare had her moments. What Sally didn’t know, though, was that when I was 10 and first riding, my own mare had been a palomino quarter horse. Also, I like a challenge. It was Kokanee who interested me, and, although the selection differed from Sally’s advertisement, I asked her to saddle Kokanee up for a test ride.

Kokanee

I mounted Kokanee outside the tack shed and rode her through the maze of paddocks to the riding ring. She was a good mover, and instantly responsive to light pressure on her mouth. I halted her outside the riding ring and waited for Sally to open the gate. As she swung the gate open, she cautioned me, “Sometimes she acts up a bit. We tried to lease her to an inexperienced rider, but I think Kokanee scared her.”

As if Sally’s words had been her cue, Kokanee stopped listening. When I prompted her to walk forward into the ring, the mare suddenly kicked it into reverse. We reversed in perfect form away from the riding gate, around the corner of the paddock fence and into the empty field beyond. Far from scared, however, I found myself grinning at the mare’s athletic display. When I dropped a hand onto her neck, Kokanee instantly stopped. I prompted her to walk; she did without hesitation.

We approached the entrance to the ring again and she repeated her reverse-drive performance, this time all the way to her paddock gate.

Although Kokanee wasn’t listening to me regarding walking forward, she was extremely responsive to leg ques. I was able to direct her. I just couldn’t move her forward.

The third time she pulled the stunt, I was prepared. This time when Kokanee approached the fence and threw herself backwards, I simply turned her around until she backed herself into the riding ring. Once there, I had Sally shut the gate, and I worked the mare. She became a delightful ride.

“You’ve ridden before,” was Sally’s observation after I dismounted, and I agreed. She asked me what I thought of Kokanee. I said she was delightful, and only needed a little work to get her bad habits under control. I was eager to begin. Sally seemed pleased. We untacked Kokanee, gave her a quick grooming, and put her away for that day. I left with a verbal agreement to return in two days with payment.

Two days later, I phoned prior to arriving and was told that Sally would not be there, but I should go ahead and take Kokanee out. The day, for me, was a huge success. Rather than give Kokanee a chance to reiterate her bad habits, I decided to mount once already inside the arena. This proved to be a wise decision; we had an excellent session in the ring, and then I walked her out into the paddock and tried her more thoroughly. I was pleased with her. She behaved like an animal who had been well-trained once, then spoiled. She showed promise of the animal she could be. When I left, I was flying. I was in love with the entire universe, and with the little golden mare who had become part of my world.

Three days later I returned. Sally greeted me as I saddled Kokanee and told me there had been an "incident." Over the weekend, they had put a beginner rider on the mare. They had left the arena gate open. Kokanee had bolted from the ring. Kokanee had taken her rider on a gallop, and by the time Sally had caught and gained control of Kokanee, the girl was terrified and sobbing. Sally was afraid of lawsuits. She declared she couldn’t have an animal on her property that she couldn’t use in the riding school. What did I honestly think, could Kokanee be trained?

I told Sally my opinion, that Kokanee was very responsive and for an experienced rider, she would be no problem once she lost a few bad manners. In my opinion, though, Kokanee was probably not best suited for the inexperienced riders in the school.

Get it in writing!

The idea of purchasing Kokanee was enticing, but I did the math and the numbers didn’t work. I had fallen for the quirky little mare, and I wanted her, but not only did I not have the money, I really didn’t have the time. It was one thing to find a few hours three days a week to ride, it was something entirely different to suddenly be responsible seven days a week for stable management and all other aspects of her care. The second week into my lease I told Sally I would not be purchasing Kokanee.

I entered a busy patch at work, and didn’t make it out to see the horse until that weekend. My children and I had gone to my parent’s home for Sunday dinner, and on the way home, we stopped in so the children could meet Kokanee. I was leading the way to Kokanee’s pen when Sally joined us.

“If you’re looking for Kokanee,” Sally said, “She’s not here.”

When I asked her what she meant, Sally told me that over the four days I had not been around, the mare had been sold and had already left.

“If you weren’t going to buy her,” she told me, “I just couldn’t have her on the property.” She described the good home the mare had gone to, and the experienced owners, then pointed at Sully, the older Arabian. “You can finish your lease with him.”

I was too stunned to comment. The children went over and petted Sully, and we left. I had two weeks left in my lease. I had paid cash and was never given a receipt. I had no interest whatsoever in Sully. And since I had trusted Sally’s professionalism, I had no signed lease agreement.

I called my mother. She was shocked by Sally’s conduct. My mother pointed out that technically, a verbal contract was as binding as a legal one. She suggested I might pursue a return on the lease money, but said she would leave that decision to me.

I decided the $75 owed me was not worth the headache. Instead, I walked away. I was happy that Kokanee had found a good home. Had Sally approached me with the news of Kokanee’s sale, I gladly would have released Sally from any obligation. I would, however, have gone to the farm to pat the horse one last time and to say goodbye.

Where horses are concerned, it is easy to let passion influence choices. From a business point of view, I'd done everything wrong with Kokanee's lease. Passion is good, but business is still business. When purchasing or leasing a horse from any owner or riding establishment, it is important to always get an agreement in writing. Do not make any payments until the contract is signed by both parties, and get a receipt for all financial transactions. Only then can you enjoy the experience knowing your interests are protected.